Two boys!

Over the weekend we went to visit our friends Jesse, Krista and their son Josiah! The boys are only 3.5 months apart and they are just beginning to be aware of other kids their own age. Throughout most of the weekend the boys engaged in more parallel play and interacted only when a toy was taken. (Josiah was actually much more 'aware' of Zach than the other way round) On our last day, however, they took turns squealing across Josiah's Thomas table and then simultaneously would erupt in delightful belly-laughter. Krista and I scrambled for video cameras to try and capture the scene. (We have often seen the boy's dads engage in similar play but the young boys are somehow more camera-worthy!)

We took the boys to a park on Saturday with swings, slides, a merry-go-round and walking trails. It was interesting to see the difference that 3 months makes, because Josiah was actually engaged in climbing the steps, going down the slide and crawling through the tunnel. Zach mostly wanted to swing (surprise, surprise) and he also really enjoyed running through the trails. After our walk, Zach spotted a family baseball game and was most upset that he wasn't included so unfortunately the excursion ended in tears. (Zach has really become interested in playing bat and ball, much to Steve's delight! He seeks out the game whenever we go outside and makes us take turns "hitting", "pitching" and "fielding"-I use those terms loosely.)

In parting, enjoy the photo of cool-Zach wearing his sunglasses. He refused help and rode, fully awake, for some time with them half-on/half-off. Thankfully I had the camera in my lap and could grab the shot!

Together we...

....got rid of a few more items of junk in the yard yesterday. It was literally a group effort because wherever Steve and I were working, Zach was right there "helping". We all took part in tearing down the dilapidated bench swing and we uprooted a random flower bed in the center of the back-yard. Somewhere during the day we lost Zach's Redsox hat and we can only assume that while helping he threw it into one the yard bags that we were putting leaves and thorns into. Steve is very excited to empty and re-fill 10 large bags later today in search of the missing hat. I think if it wasn't a Redsox hat it would remain lost.

A few cool days!

We have tried to take advantage of a welcomed reprieve from the summer heat and humidity by spending a great deal of time outside yesterday and today! I finally set up the swing that we've had all summer (but have never used) and Zach likes to be swinging for 45 minutes at a time! (That is no exaggeration!) I quickly lose interest in swinging but I'm amazed at how long he will stay with one task.

We also recently got an old watering can from my grandmother and Zach has been interested in how this device works. After a few moments of exploring the water coming out of the can's mouth he usually decides that he prefers the hose that has a constant supply of water instead.

Also a new favorite activity is picking the not-quite-ripened tomatoes and either throwing them or carrying them around like little treasures. I have been teaching Zach "no touch" for a few items (the tomato plants being one of them) so now he approaches the plant shaking his head saying, "no touch" as he then picks tomatoes off of the plant! Ugh!